Fastener.



No.87Z174. PATENTED JAN.21,I90&

- N.URANE.

PASTENBR APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27. 1902.

THE NORRIS Psrsns co-r wasumamn. 1 c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NEWTON CRANE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,TO CRANE BUCKLE COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE, A CORPORATION.

FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 21,1908.

' Application filed March 2'7, 1902- Serial No. 100.197.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NEWTON CRANE, of Boston, in the county of Suffolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in' Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to fasteners of the type applicable for use insecuring a shoe, overshoe, or slipper upon the foot, though as will beapparent from the following specification, the invention is not limitedin its application to the articles mentioned, but may be used in variousways and for various purposes.

In a previous patent, No. 632,225 granted August 29th, 1899 there isshown a fastener comprising an elongated curved member in the form of ametal strip and fastened to the overshoe near the top at one side of thefront opening and provided with a series of catches by striking upportions of the metal; and a cooperating loop member secured to theother side of the front opening so as to permit of the elongated membersliding through it, the outer bar of the loop being adapted to engageany one of the catches and be maintained in engagement therewith bydraft upon the two interlocked members, resulting fromthe shoe top beingclasped around the leg. While this device has proven quite efficient, Ihave found room for improvement here involved establishing sapring-pawl-andratchet relation between the members,-and for supplying aback-rest for the catch-memher so that the latter will be clampedbetween such back-rest and the front bar of the loopmember, accidentaldisengagement of the latter from the catch-member being thereby renderedwell nigh impossible whatever strains may be imposedupon the fastener.

Withthe above-stated objects in view, the

invention consists in certain novel features of construction andcombination of parts, the essential elements of which are recited in theappended claims and preferred forms of embodiment of which arespecifically described hereinafter and illustrated in detail in theaccompanying drawings, whereof,

Figure 1 represents in perspective the top part of an overshoe of thearctic type with one form of my improved fastener applied thereto. Fig.2 represents a central longitudinal section of the same part on anenlarged scale as compared with Fig. 1, the fastenermember being in eachinstance in locked relation. Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. showing asharper angular relation of loop and catch-member with the parts stillinterlocked. Fig. 4 is aview similar to Figs. 2 and 3, but illustratingthe relation of parts before the members are interlocked. Fig. 5 is adetached planview of loop-member and adjuncts. Fig. 6 is a side view ofthe same parts. Fig. 7 is a similar view to Fig. 6, but showing theloop-member in its outstanding position. Fig. 8 is a view similar toFig. 2, but illustrating a different form of embodiment of theinvention. Fig. 9 is a detached plan view of the loop-member andadjuncts of the latter. Fig. 10 is a central longitudinal section ofthese parts.

Referring first to Figs. 17, the reference letter a designates the topof a shoe and I) the loose tongue closing the front opening thereof inthe usual way. At one side of this opening there is shown, riveted tothe material of the top a, one end of a metal catch member 0 having alongitudinal curvature and formed with a series of catches 0 produced bystriking up portions of the metal. At the opposite side of the saidfront opening there is anchored in the material of the top (by rivetingor otherwise,) a metal supporting member d, widened at its outerextremity to form ears d, and transversely offset back of the same toform a hingesocket (1 the material of the supporting member being cutthrough on three sides of a rectangle producing a tongue 61 which isbent back so as to protrude from the rear side of the supporting memberand extend part way across the aforesaid hinge socket, normally inparallelism with the body of the supporting member as shown in Fig. 6.The loop-member is of generally rectangular form comprising side-bars eand inner and outer end-bars e and'e bent at an angle to said side-bars;and this loop-member is inter locked with the supporting-member d bysuperposing the side-bars 6 over the ears d. and engaging the end-bars ewith the hingesocket (1 so that the tongue d underlies. said end-bar.This can be readily accomplished by thrusting the front end of thesupporting member through the loop-member, entering the'bar 6 thereof(interior edge first) through the opening left between the end of tongued and the opposite side-wall of the socket 6V, and then turning the artsinto line, the resiliency of the metal of the supporting member at,making of the tongue (1 a spring which yields to the pressure of the barand permits the latter to assume a flattened position'in the socket. Itwill be seen that this spring engaging the underside of the bar 6 willtend to hold the loop-member in line with the supporting member andresist the turning outward thereof until it comes to bear flatly againstthe rear edge of the said bar, when it operates to hold the loop-memberin the outstanding position to which the latter will then have beenbrought, as shown in Fig. 7. This will be the adjustment of theloop-member when the catch-member c is first to be introduced as shown.in Fig. 4, said passed through the loop.

catch-member sliding over the outer end edge of the supporting member (1when Upon turning the latter inwardly, the tongue (1 acts as a spring tosnap it against the catch-member and engage the inner edge of the bar 6with .the edge of one of the catches as shown in Fig. 2, said bar beingnotched so as not to be obstructed by the adjacent catch. It will beseen that under this adjustment of the parts the'catch-member is clampedbetween the loop-bar e and the outer edge of the supporting member (1,so that no amount of distortion of the fastener-members will causedisengagement of the loop and catch members. (See Fig. 3.) Yet suchdisengagement can be readily effected when intended by prying under thebar 6 with thumb or finger. For the pur ose of distinguishing the threemembers, t e catch-member is indicated as a whole at c, the loop-memberat e, and the supporting-member at cl.

In Figs. 8, 9 and 10, a form of construction is shown adapting thefastener for use with a style of overshoe having looped straps asecured. to the flaps a at opposite sides of the front opening.

The catch-bar c is g riveted to an extension strip 0 formed with a slot0 for the accommodation of one of the straps a; and the back-rest andspring-member for holding the loop-member e are formed of a metal stripdoubled upon itself, the front part at having the hinge-socket, and theback part 61 forming the spring tongue, while both portions are widenedat the rear and slotted as at d to accommodate the other one of thestraps a. This form of fastener performs the same functions as indicatedwith reference to the form first described, as will be obvious.

It will now be seen that either of the forms of embodiment of theinvention herein shown and described is admirably adapted to perfeet allof the objects previously stated, but it is nevertheless, to beunderstood that the invention is susceptible of embodiment in variousother forms, and hence in the claims which follow I do not restrictmyself to any .one species.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention, and described a wayof constructing and using the same, although without attempting to setforth all of the forms in which it may be made, or all of the modes ofits use,I declare that what I claim is 1; A fastener of the characterdescribed, the same comprising an elongated catchmember, a loop-memberto receive the same and interlock with its catches, and asupporting-member for said loop-member con sisting of a strip extendingtherethrough and widened to underlie the side bars of the loopmember andprovide a back-rest for the catch-member, said strip being hingedlyconnected with the loop-member.

2. A fastener of the character described, the same comprising anelongated catchmember, a loop-member to receive the same

